Ok then . Thanks for the info . Also could someone tell me if there was any possibillity any Sherman survive from an 88mm or a 75mm hit ?
depends where the shell hits, range, angle etc so of course it could survive a hit from an 88 or 75 if the circumstances are in its favour. Most Sherman’s don’t forget had petrol engines which didn’t help survivability but some also for instance had water jackets fitted internally which significantly improved their chances of surviving one hit at least…the jackets ruptured after the first hit. The sherman’s 75mm gun was never designed as a tank killer but was more for general purpose, reasonable HE and AP but not brilliant at either.
Also bear in mind that the 6pdr AT gun (57mm and better AP performance than the 75mm but less HE) was recorded as knocking out Tigers in Tunisia.
Threads on 17pdr. merged, as this one was a good one!
The gun was developed from the famous French 1897 field gun and it had an excellent HE performance
Also bear in mind that the 6pdr AT gun (57mm and better AP performance than the 75mm but less HE) was recorded as knocking out Tigers in Tunisia.
The Tiger I now at the Bovington tank museum was KO’d by a 6 pdr armed Churchill tank;)
Indeed. The only reason that it survived as long as it did was the misconception that the 76mm (3 inch) gun had a poor HE performance…
I didn’t know that, I really want to take a trip down there at some point
I saw some Tigers in the tank museum in Saumur(a town in France). They looked brand new. Could the Allies have captured the tanks in or near the factories?
I wish to go to Bovington too…
The Tiger I at Samumur served with the 2nd Kompanie,.SS-Pz.Abt. 102,( hull number 251114 ) in Normandy.
It was abandoned during the rout at the Falaise gap.
Sweet! Thanks for the info!
Is that the Tiger thats now running, the static one I’d read that it was knocked out when a shell lodged in the turret ring, jamming it causing the crew to abandon it.
This was taken in Bovington museum. Disabled by a round from a Sherman, the shell hit exactly in the ridge below the gun mantlet and the upper hull, thereby jamming the turret. The crew bailed out and it was subsequently captured. The dent right under the gun mantlet is still visible and can be seen when zoomed in.
http://www.worldwar2aces.com/tiger-tank/tiger-tank.htm
Its the same tank.
However the article has the type of tank that KO’d it wrong.
It was knocked out by Churchill tanks of No. 4 Troop, A Squadron, 48th Royal Tank Regiment at Medjez-el-Bab on 21 April 1943.
It was abandoned by the crew after one hit had shattered the loader’s hatch and another had deflected off the underside of the gun, jamming the turret, and clipped the armour vent housing, causing internal damage near the driver.
The Tiger tank belonged to No. 3 Platoon in No.1 Company (1.Kompanie./schwere Panzer Abteilung 504), and was allocated Tactical Number 131
Ah, many thanks Redcoat for correcting that info’
Bump!
Tiger Tanks at War by M. Green & J.D. Brown gives this account of a 17pdr Tiger hunt in action in Italy. [P.98-]
" A Tiger [I/E] was observed about 3,000 yards away, engaging 3 Shermans. When it set one of the Shermans afire, the other 2 withdrew over a crest. A 17pdr was brought up to within 2,400 yards of the Tiger & engaged it from the flank.
When the Tiger realized it was being engaged by a hi-velocity gun it swung around 90`so that its heavy frontal armour was toward the gun. In the ensuing duel one round hit the turret, another round hit the suspension, & another 2 near-short rounds probably ricocheted into the tank.
The tank was not put out of action. The range was too great to expect a kill; hence the N.Z.ers tactics were to make the Tiger expose its flank to the Shermans at a range of almost 500 yards…& when it was engaged by the Shermans, it withdrew…"
Nice shooting - 2 of 4 shots on target in combat at a mile and a half!
That would have been nice shooting in the 70’s.
Likely some good keen Kiwi deer stalker blokes…
Still a bit dispiriting for the Sherman crews… knowing they can be plucked like a turkey while the best available riposte only elicits the big cat to move out of his favourite basking spot…
They damaged it and forced a tactical withdrawal. Did your Tiger book list instances like where three Tigers were destroyed by the crossfire two 76mm antitank guns at around 1000yards during the Battle of the Bulge? Or does it just cherry-pick fearsome beasty anecdotes?
I’m thinking that this most prestigious Tome came with a companion CD playing ERIKA on an endless loop.
& how many cherries in every can of Dr Pepper?
Anecdotes are cool, esp’ when reality based… so true …a big enough sample can form a pattern & provide a fair picture…
What Tigers/Panthers did come with was an operating manual that gave crews info including tactical use best outcomes scenarios, mechanical & driving tips & other useful data…
I`ll bet Abrams crews get something along those beastly lines today, or is it really like in the ‘Buffalo Soldiers’
movie, where they just ride rough-shod, pumpin’ & a pimpin’…